2.08.2009

Amber - Improves vision and the throat, kidneys and bladder. This soothing stone will calm nerves and enliven the stick-in-the-mud pet to be a bit cheerier, while calming a hyperactive one. As well, amber is an excellent stone to hold while in the company of a pregnant or birthing animal.

Amethyst - This is a powerful all-around healer, improving hearing and the nervous and skeletal systems predominately. It also aids the digestive tract, heart, stomach, skin and teeth. It is a great help if your pet battles arthritis.

Aventurine - If you and your pet have just moved to a new location, aventurine is perfect for both of you. As it helps to strengthen your blood, lungs, heart and adrenal glands; it will also strengthen your desire to explore and get out. Aventurine will hearten your indecisive pet, and increase muscle tone.

Citrine - If your pet is moody, fearful or always awake while you wish to sleep, citrine is the stone of your dreams. This energetic stone will aid his/her digestive tract and alleviate fears, depressions and insomnia.

Jade - This is a stone traditionally held to increase one's lifespan, and to facilitate maximum comfort while the end is near. Jade assists the immune system, kidneys and heart, insures a healthy sheen to your pet's coat - all through his long life.

Lapis Lazuli - This stone protects, relieves and stimulates your pet. An all around "good vibe" stone, it also strengthens the throat, bone marrow and immune system; as well as relieving dizziness and occasional insomnia. Lapis is the strongest stone your can use to relieve the pain of leukemia and bone cancer.

Quartz Crystal - When you place a quartz crystal around your pets neck, not only will it increase his immunities, stimulate his thyroid, and decrease respiratory problems; it is also an excellent training stone. Quartz crystal amplifies communication between human and animals, and strengthens mental clarity. This stone increases capabilities of learning from one's master and teacher.

Rose Quartz - Use a rose quartz for your pet when it has been wounded, or recently undergone surgery. If your pet is aloof, lonely or isolated, rose quartz will help him/her learn the powers of love and gentleness. As well, if you are inviting a new pet into a full household, this stone will help spread the love equally, and facilitate harmony with all your animals.

For ancient cultures, the hearth was the center of the home. It was the provider of warmth through the harsh winter months, and also provided heat for cooking all meals. It was the gathering place of the household. Fire has a special attraction for all of us. Within its smoke and flame lie the origin of many religions. Fire, the element of transformation, causes change to occur. It can be destructive, but through destruction comes creation. The fire in the house was never allowed to die. It was considered unfortunate if the household fire went out during the night. If this occurred, hot coals would need to be borrowed from neighbors. If the coals died while being transported home, it was an omen that the family would have an unlucky future.

Today, the fireplace is viewed as the heart of the home, as well as an altar to natural forces that shape our work. Because the chimney is regarded as a "magical entrance" to the home, it has been magically guarded. Plants can be utilized for this. Olive branches hung on the chimney serve to ward against lightning strikes. Pine needles scattered in the fireplace work in a similar manner.

Crossing fireplace tools in front of the fireplace is said to prevent sparks from popping out onto the floor. A jar of salt on the hearth can be used during any period of argument or tension: throw a pinch on the flames, and its cleansing powers will bless your home.

Three circles drawn in white chalk on the hearth will ban evil from entering.

According to folklore, fire must have at least thirteen sticks in order to burn properly.

When the fireplace was cold, witches would rake the ashes into a circle, then cast spells within the circle.

A fire is useful for transformative spells, such as those utilizing rosemary or rose petals, which are cast into the flames. Combining this with the proper visualization would bring love to the spell-maker. Nettles thrown into the fire will conquer fear.

The type of wood being burned can affect your spells. Use oak for healing magic, for instance, when someone in the home is sick. This wood helps to draw off the illness and protects the rest of the household. Ash logs promote energy, while pine brings money into the home.

The pendulum can be used for many things: finding lost objects, discovering hidden treasures, divining water, communicating with spirits of the dead, diagnosing illness and prescribing medicine...all these and more. Gypsies use the pendulum quite a lot. One of the uses to which they put it is in determining whether or not a particular lover is the right one for you.The pendulum itself should be a ring suspended on a length of red silk thread or ribbon. Many girls use their mother's wedding band for the ring. The only other thing you need is a connection with the one you are wondering about. This can be an article of his or her clothing, a handkerchief, a watch, ring, or other piece of jewelry, a photograph, or anything similar that has a direct link with the person.

Simply sit with the object, photograph, or whatever in front of you and hold the pendulum over it. It doesn't matter whether or not your elbow rests on the table, but hold the thread so that the ring is suspended about an inch or so above the object. Allow seven inches of the thread between your fingers and the ring.

Concentrate your thoughts on the person you are wondering about. Is he/she the right one for you? Think of all their good qualities, and their bad. Then say:

Av, ml Romani mal,

Pawdel dur chumbas.

Av kitane mansa?

This little verse in Romanes (the Gypsy language) can be roughly translated as "Come my Gypsy friend, over the hills so far away. Will you come along with me?" Repeat it, saying it three times in all.

As you say the verse the pendulum will start to swing. If it swings backwards and forwards, towards you and away from you, then it means "yes," that person is the right one for you. But if it swings from side to side, across you, then it means "no," they are not right for you. With some people the pendulum may swing in a circle, rather than backwards and forwards. If it does, then clockwise means "Yes" and counterclockwise means "No".

The Egyptians were the first to speak of Benu, which later became the Phoenix in Greek legends. Benu is mostly depicted as a heron, with a long straight back, a head adorned with two erect feathers, and its plumage red and golden. It was the sacred bird of Heliopolis, city of the Sun, where it stayed on the ben-ben stone or obelisk, inside the town's sanctuary. Its true home was however the Arabian desert, it only came back to Heliopolis to die/be born. Benu was associated with the Sun god Ra and with Osiris, god of the Underworld, who is said to have given the secret of eternal life to Benu. It symbolises rebirth, as it rises from its ashes like a new sun rises when the old has died. It also symbolises a new period of wealth and fertility, when the Nile flooded the earth each year.

It is said that Benu had created itself from the fire that burned on the top of the sacred Persea tree in Heliopolis. Another story says that the heron Benu was the first life form to have appeared on the mound which rose from the watery chaos of the first creation, which links Benu to the nile and its periodical floods. The mound was called the ben-ben, and was the origin of the town of Heliopolis. Benu is, one way or the other, the personification of creation and life-force. After 500 years, according to Herodotus, Benu flew to the Sun temple in Heliopolis to build its funeral pyre with incense twigs. It then climbed onto it and waited for the sun's rays to consume it, singing a song of rare beauty as it did so. According to Pliny, from the ashes emerged a small worm that the sun's rays turned into a new Benu at the end of the day. It is also said that a new Phoenix rose immediately from it's father's ashes and flew with it's predecessor's emblamed remains to Heliopolis, accompanied by a flight of turtledoves.

The planet Venus was called the 'star of the ship of the Bennu-Asar' (Osiris), and is mentioned as the Morning Star in this invocation to the sacred sun bird, Benu:

I am the Benu, the soul of Ra, and the guide of the gods in the Douat *,Let it be so done unto me that I may enter in like a hawk,And that I may come forth like Bennu, the Morning Star.

Sirens, crying beauty to bewitch men coasting by; woe to the innocent who hears that sound!...The Sirens will sing his mind away on their sweet meadow lolling.There are bones of dead men rotting in a pile beside them and flayed skins shrivel around the spot.In my skin, she is there; ink and blood paint her into everything I am, while she gazes from behind me, murmuring curses we would kill to hear.She is veil of death, womb of blood, mystery of the abyss. At her feet, the dead and the alive succumb to her song, to her flood of blood and sea and to her ever open wound. In the past, we bled for the vision quest, blood streaming down thighs as, in groups, we gathered to exchange stories, to collect premonitions.

Between our legs were Chaos, Night, Revenge. In other histories, we bled impurity, our womb had teeth. The word hysteria rose out of the theory that our wombs moved freely around our internal organs and caused insanity. The female blood and flesh were meant to be feared, reduced, denied, and now, synthetically perfumed.

To some, the woman was associated with water - unconsciousness, mystery, depth, and sensuality. She held the power to bring drought and flood and to use her voice to condemn, cast spells and judgment, to make blind or reveal.

Listen! the swish of the blood,The sirens down the bloodpaths of the night,Bone tapping on the bone, nerve-nets,Singing under the breath of sleep.

She gave the moon, and thereby, gave dreams - in some cultures, she was forbidden to sleep during menstruation, for her dreams were considered altered by psychic powers too violent to be allowed to speak through her. Elsewhere, it was this violence that was sought after in the bleeding woman - dreams became means of divination. She became the moon, the triple-moon goddess, the maiden, mother, and crone. Her blood entailed descent, as in Persephone and the crossing of the threshold of womanhood in her descent to Hades. The pomegranate she ate from was womb, seed, and blood. The Furies, born from the blood of castrated Uranus, black-clothed avengers of crime, especially crimes of blood. Their names are Allecto (neverending), Megaera (envious anger), and Tisiphone (retaliation).

The bleeding cycle was used to gauge time, for the woman's blood is bound to the moon and the tides of the sea. Said Kali, "I AM Time, ever inclined to destroy the worlds and annihilate all and anything that is not worthy of keeping." Here we unveil the Fates, born of night, symbolic of ancient forms of Justice. Triple-goddesses still, they spin, measure, and cut the thread of life. Whatsoever they will, be it annihilation or poetry, must come into being, must be born out of chaos and blood. The woman's blood and flesh as life giver and life taker is prevalent in the paradoxes that so imbue the history of blood.

The blood that flowed from Medusa's decapitated head fell on the desert, and there engendered snakes. The Gorgon's remaining blood was caught in vials by Athena - it had such power that a single droplet from the left side could raise the dead, and the same amount from the right could instantly kill.

To mark themselves with the power of menstrual blood, women have historically made signs on their bodies to recreate the creative power, bringing warnings, protection, repellence, attraction, and religious significance. The teaching of menstrual principles to men and the use of blood as a signal or sign or status was heightened by the use of slashing - the women could create blood at will, through cutting. The sight of blood on another woman's thigh could start a woman bleeding, so slashing, for some people, was a method of synchrony. Women found that they could have menstrual signals visible on their faces and other parts of their bodies even when they were not in the dangerous state of menstruation. Among native tribes, chin tattooing was primarily a mark of the female status achieved at menarche. Among some people, tattooed lines continued down the neck onto the breasts or stomach. In addition to using tattoos for ritual purposes, people marked their mouths and bodies with bits of special carved wood and shell. They were pushed through holes punctured in the skin, ears, nose, septum, or embedded in the flesh of the menstruant.

All of the openings of the face were, by extension, vaginas in need of protection. Protective ornaments have also been embedded around, and between, the eyes. Scarification was also used to adorn and protect. Her body was a writing tablet before writing, covered with information. Her face, breasts, abdomen, and back would be decoratively scarred as well.

Invoker of wound and mystery, the body of the woman is the immaculate witness to time, vengeance, creation and destruction. The blood that floods down her skin is the siren song of mystery religions, violence, the impenetrable thread that binds sex and death. In chaos she invokes shadows - the word made flesh - the rapture of the curse, the bouquet of the underworld, the eyes that bleed.

If I command the moon it will come downAnd if I wish to withhold the dayNight will linger over my headAnd again,If I wish to embark on the seaI need no shipAnd if I wish to fly through the airI am freed from my weight

- Ancient Greek Papyrus

She is acknowledged, and worshipped in many contemporary cultures, by diverse names and in many aspects. She is the Goddess - counterpart to the God, and equally important to spiritual balance in today's world.

The first association made with the word "Goddess" is usually the images of primitive fertility goddesses, which are found scattered over Europe, images which are thought to be among the first representations of the divine known to humankind. In searching for Her we undertake a journey into that part of our own psyche, which resonates to the call of the wise.

However, She is not only the inspiration of dead civilizations, nor an historical curiosity - seeking the Goddess is not a reversion to the primitive, but rather an identification with a multi-faceted symbol. She means many different things to those who choose Her as artistic patron, or as inspiration for their creative work and spirituality.

If we are inspired by myth, we are drawn to examine the roles of men and women in the society, which gave rise to the myth. Among the earliest cultures, images of fertile women and of the hunt were crafted in stone and clay, in ochre painted on cave walls and carved into the rock. They are representations of two human needs - children to increase the tribe and food to sustain it - arguably the oldest representations of deity. The images are important in their own right, for beyond the necessity for water, food Shelter and companionship, these early people sought to express their concept of forces in nature, which shaped their lives. Like all good art, it crosses cultural barriers and evokes feelings, which are relevant today, because we are still connected to the same human needs.

Today, priestesses and priests of the Goddess add their knowledge of psychology to the experience of history, to create a new worship from an ancient wisdom. They celebrate the Goddess in religious rites, yet they also draw parallels between the myths of the Goddess and the phases of human life - just as some people relate to the myth of Persephone in the Rites of Eleusis and perceive that it tells the tale of the Maiden (Persephone), the Mother (Demeter) and the Crone (Hekate).

A triumvirate of maiden, mother and crone is, in modern paganism, related to the phases of the moon, corresponding to first crescent, full moon, waning moon and dark moon. The process of birth through growth, maturity, aging and death is also connected to the aspects of the goddess, though the aspects are called by many diverse names from as many different pantheons.

THE MAIDENIn dreams, the Maiden often represents the potential self, the person we are becoming, and a possibility not yet real. Something has been conceived - a new attitude or idea, the seeds of a poem, an unknown strength, the courage to resist, or create or die.There is a place within us which contains the Maiden - complete unto ourselves, virgin, we proceed from a willingness to meet every stranger as another deity in disguise. The Kore in Greek Myth can represent the potential within us all. We seek Her power, in the willingness to enter initiation, to abandon perceptions, to enter the realm of the unknown. She is the Maiden who lives in harmony with nature, who is reckless and restless about rules and restrictions. She is the Kore, stolen away by death into the underworld where She undergoes the transformation knowledge brings. She is stolen, dispossessed of Her innocence to become the initiate who is Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.

The knowledge gained in this journey, from child-woman to ruler of the dark mysteries of the underworld, marks a separation from the mother in the individuation process; severed from the complacency of childhood, we face our own decisions and trials. We take risks - sometimes risks that are not wise ones - but all these risks and adventures make us who we will become. We are reminded that a willingness to face our own mortality and effect the transformation of an initiatory experience marks our ability to complete the cycle of personal spiritual growth. The Maiden awakens us to the potential and creative strengths that slumber in the underworld of our own psyche.

THE MOTHERThe Mother is nurturing, creative and gives of Her substance to the world. She embraces the principles of returning and recycling energy. Through Her, the gifts borne by the Maiden are transformed in the crucible of mature realization.

The Mother can be perceived as our nurturing self, complete, but also a companion. She reaches beyond the singular to contain a multitude of possibilities. She is the relating principle, able to encompass a relationship of equals, to create and to build strength in Herself and others. Giving of Herself, She receives in return the freedom to fill Her cup with new dreams. The Mother has many images - She is the serpent and the butterfly Goddess; She is the deer, the bear, the wolf or the sow and is mistress of the art of transformation. Her association with these creatures is not totemic; She is not a woman with the characteristics and strengths of an animal. Instead, She is the creature or the Goddess. Part of these tales of transformation speaks of metamorphic change, dispossession and the process of alienation. Many myths tell of a Goddess who, in the dark of night, or at certain times, transforms or is transformed by some magic process (not always by choice) into a mythic beast. Her offspring are referred tor as foals, cubs or kids and are more powerful than their (often) mortal fathers in that they have the blood of faerie and the power to transform themselves. These myths are part of our Heritage, where the realm between the worlds exerts its attraction and speaks to us of spiritual truths.

Red is the color of the Mother - blood of birth, of the menstrual flow that Heralds the sea change at puberty and heats the blood in passion. It also represents blood drawn by Her or owed to Her in battle. It is no co-incidence that love Goddesses are often also warrior Goddesses; their language is that of the blood, the water of life. She teaches us that duration and ripening, of ideas and maturity, are important; She emphasizes that we must free our children and ideas to blossom in their own way. Until we have given of ourselves, we cannot either return to the Maiden within and learn things from a new perspective, or move into the realm of the Crone, who is the weaver of dreams.

THE CRONEThe Crone is the queen of the shades, dark mistress of the night. She gathers the strands of our realizations and weaves a many-colored tapestry to illustrate our lives. As a midwife and timekeeper, She attends each birth and cuts the cord that binds us to the Mother. She is priestess and seer, weaver of magic and tide, who holds the spindle and measures the thread of our lifespan, weaving it into the web for a certain time and then releasing us to the regeneration of death.

As ruler of the crossroads, She is the giver and taker of gifts. She may grant us everything we desire or withhold it. She may wear all the faces of the Goddess simultaneously and is often portrayed as a serpent with many heads or as a medusa. She is that which we most fear and are most fascinated with - the realm of death. She leads the initiate into the depths of their own renewal in her role as teacher of the mysteries. She is found in the twilight world, as wise women are often portrayed, or on the edge of a forest, a river, and the sea or in an isolated cave. This makes Her a figure of dreams and magic. When we seek Her power within us, we challenge the boundaries of life and are "out on the edge" of reality. Her, the balance is precarious but She teaches us to synthesize realizations from the knowledge we glean from experience of life. Some of Her powers are those of the Fates, the Norns, and the Muses. She is also seen as a spirit of the wind and of wild places where things may be transformed into their opposites. As such, She can as easily change Her form and be seen as a woman of any age She chooses.

She is wanderer and oracle, Herbalist and shape shifter, wild woman of the wilds. She moves between the worlds of humankind and the elder gods freely and without restriction for She is a creature of all places, not just one physical realm. Where the Maiden can be seen as encompassing potential, and the Mother contains all fulfillments, the Crone rejoices in release from ties. Her knowledge of that which binds makes Her the ruler of cord magic and spinning. She apprehends the lessons of past, present and future and leads us into the mysteries of renewal.

A MODERN PRACTICEThe Triple Goddess who manifests as Maiden, Mother and Crone, is one of the forces worshipped in the Old Earth Religion and in modern Paganism and Wicca. She is the creator / preserver / destroyer who interacts with other multi-faceted deities.

We borrow from cultures of the distant past a concept of pattern, an ordered progression of changes within the individual and within society. Whether we perceive the Goddess as the primal female aspect of our own nature or as an aspect of deity; or indeed, as the creative principle of the universe, we can relate to imagery of the Goddess and find reflections of Her cycles in our own bodies. The process of change and growth that occurs in our life is echoed in the myths of the Goddess, from various cultures, which stress connection with nature and cultural rhythms. The theme of the Goddess leads to an examination of the role of deity in our everyday lives and, in turn, an exploration of the inspiration provided by spiritual or religious principles.

Now and again in the world individuals seek personal inspiration from the environment and express that connection through art, music, dance and ritual. We create the fragile strands of a cultural web and call on the many aspects of deity who are part of our spirituality.

The Goddess has many names and is as real to Her Priestesses and Priests today as She was in remote history. We call on the ancient wisdom, on the Lady who has changed Her shape to fit the needs of Earth's children. We worship and celebrate in open fields and groves of trees, in suburban living rooms and city parks, carrying a wild magic in our hearts and a willingness to undergo transformation and challenges in the names of the deities we worship.

The Goddess is once more honored in all Her aspects and finds a place in our hearts and our daily lives. Her power is seen in nature, in the depth of sacred pools and in the pull of the tides of earth and sea. The Mystery lives within us and is known by many names; we all carry Her within us, whatever our gender or age.

As an individual, I am poised between the faces of deity - between the underworld of dreams, myth and creativity on the one hand and the realm of thought, action and self-expression on the other. As priestess and woman I flow along the edge of the blade, a precarious but exhilarating balance - celebrating deity and life.

Blood Mysteries - the subject that is most dear to my heart. What are Blood Mysteries I hear you ask? They are what make woman sacred and special and they have been ignored and maligned over the past few centuries to the degree of women hating their bodies at "that time of the month". Not me - I adore my body at that time of the month (sort of hehe), I try take time out of my hectic pace of this life to totally honour and acknowledge my body.What so many of us have forgotten is that the blood of our bodies - in specific our wombs - is the blood of life and without this blood there would be not creation of new life. If our bodies did not generate this magnificent elixir then no egg would be produced and no seed could be planted to take root and grow into a new entity.

So why then is this life force treated as if it is dirty and evil? That is the question that has haunted women for so many years but which I hope, as we enter the new millenium, can be answered and women can once more be allowed and encouraged to honour the very source of life.

But how does one do this in the world as we know it. It isn't easy but it needs to be done for women to connect on a deeper level with who they are.

Mystery is defined as that which is beyond understanding, that which baffles or perplexes, that which is profound and known only by revelation. When we speak of women's Blood Mysteries, we are referring to the biological events of Menarche, Childbirth, and Menopause that are accompanied by changed perspective and the influx of knowledge beyond reason. We don't know why we change and grow and acquire knowledge so dramatically at these times, but we do--this is the Mystery. And as we share this knowledge, the revelations linked to changes in our bodies, we reclaim the power and wisdom inherent in being women.

Menarche is a prime example of how mystery has accorded women power and respect. Before the advent of science, menstruation was biologically confounding -- how could women bleed thus, and not be injured? This must be magic, the ability of women to bleed and yet be well! Long before conception was understood to require fertilization, women were thought to generate life simply by withholding their menstrual blood in an autonomous feminine process. The sexual act was not linked to conception. Women were apparently stirred by spirit, then retained their blood, gestated and brought forth new life. Thus menopause was viewed not as a loss, but as an increase of power--older women permanently retained their blood and so transcended the cycle of death and rebirth; they became as the source of creation.

But when Christianity recast women's bodies as evil, the source of original sin, the womb ceased to be a sacred temple and the Blood Mysteries were no longer acknowledged. And as science deconstructed human beings to a set of physiological functions, medical technology developed to further separate body and spirit. Now we have tools to "aid" the birth process, medications to "ease" menstruation or override the effects of menopause, surgery to extirpate women of their wombs. We seek to tame and dominate the forces of nature: we plant crops that deplete the soil, we raze our forests and pollute our waters. This would be unthinkable in a world that reveres the feminine.

This is not to deny that technology has its benefits -- contraception has been a boon, and women's lives have been saved in complicated childbirth or pathological gynecological situations.

But we have lost the Mystery. Reclaiming women's blood rites as profound psychological turning points is the foundation of revealing new, empowering archetypes for women, and rediscovering our most ancient ones.

In creating this page I was confronted with the fact that although women's spirituality is a very strongly emerging presence today, there is extremely little information on that sacred mystery that makes women sacred and unique. This page is not just intended to focus on women's blood mysteries, but on the magick and mystery of blood in general. I had planned to start with women, as I am one.

It puzzled me as I searched the web, magazines, and books for distinguishable and accurate information regarding blood, especially women's blood, as I had not thought it a taboo any longer. But make no mistake, the information may not be readily in print, but it is there and has been for more years than any of us can comprehend. Ever since the first women humans have had the gift of sacred blood.

In the beginning, according to the Wise Woman tradition, everything began, as everything does, at birth. The Great Mother of All gave birth and the earth appeared out of the void. Then the Great Mother of All gave birth again, and again, and again, and people, and animals, and plants appeared on the earth. They were all very hungry.

"What shall we eat?" they asked the Great Mother. "Now you eat me," she said, smiling.Soon there were a very great many lives, but the Great Mother of All was enjoying creating and giving birth so much that she didn't want to stop. "Ah," she said smiling, "now I eat you." And so she still does.

We all come from the same mother. We all return to her embrace, bloody-rich womb place, when we die. Every woman is a whole/holy form of her. Every woman's blood is a holy mystery. The word "blood" is one with some mystery and stigma attached to it. It bothers no one to say the word "blood" when a person is cut and bleeding. It bothers no one to use the word "blood" in poetry and song. But it does begin to make people tense when we hear/see certain words spoken or written with of the word "blood". For example, "sacred blood" alerts most people immediately to a hushed and quiet sense of wrong or taboo. What about "blood mysteries"? That is equally shocking to some.

But blood is the elixer of life. Without it we cannot live. In fact, through the monthly cycles of blood shedding in women we realize that blood means fertility and is a metaphor for life itself. This is the beginning of blood as something sacred and blood as a mystery.

Blood mysteries teach that women's blood is holy blood, healing blood. The blood mysteries teach us to remember that life and healing comes from and returns to woman.

Every month we remember: I am woman. I am earth. I am life. I am nourishment. I am change. Even as women cycle monthly we each have patterns in that cycle. We may feel fatigued, creative, sad, happy, or introspective, for example, during certain patterned times throughout our cycle. Part of the scared mystery of this is realizing that these times are portals for magick and growth. By recognizing this we become more in touch with our bodies and our selves.

For too many years has the word "period" been hushed. We are women. We bleed. We also give life to every human being that has ever existed and ever will exist. When we hear terms like, "oh, she must be on the rag" to describe a woman's attitude it is demeaning to every woman. What person can presume to know what a woman feels or how her period affects her? That is especially no man's place to presume such things. Why, when a woman complains, is she a "bitch", or has PMS? When a man complains he is seen to be expressing justfiable woes, but a woman is called "bitch" or "nag" before what she has to say is even heard- have you ever asked yourself why that is? The answer is quite disturbing. Women, in this world, do not matter as much as men. This is not to say we need special treatment- we don't. But we live in a world oriented toward men... and it shows.

I am no feminist. At least not in the hard core sense. I enjoy a man who opens doors for me, yet I assume he knows I am capable of doing it myself. I enjoy when my husband will step forward and defend me if needed, although he and I both know I am quite capable of handling myself in any situation. I am not a "feminazi", but for those who are, I have realized the justification in that view. Women are not an extension of men. We are separate, equal, and magickal.As a woman, I am blatantly and repeatedly confronted with my changes: hormonal harmonics stirring moon time visions, ovulatory oracles, pre-menstrual crazies, orgasmic knowings, birth ecstasies, breast-feeding bliss, menopausal moods.

I am wholeness. I am woman. I know the bloody places: the narrow space between life and death, the mess of nourishing life, the flow of letting life go. The Wise Woman tradition is a bloody-handed woman, a bloody-thighed woman, a woman who sees to the other side of things.All shamanic powers are the powers of women's blood mysteries. Shamanic powers are the natural powers of menstruating, menopausal, and post-menopausal women.

Ritual DressSage smudge & dishFeather2 white candles and candle holderBlessed waterGlass of water Bowl of waterglasses or dishes of salt

I: Ritual Bath & Dress

II: Call the Quarters

North

“Hail and welcome powers of the EarthPowers of stability, security and fertility.Bless my rite and protect this space.”

East

“Hail and welcome powers of AirPowers of freedom, perception and thoughtBless my rite and protect this space.”

South

“Hail and welcome powers of FirePowers of love, healing and natureBless my rite and protect this space.”

West

“Hail and welcome powers of WaterPowers of emotions, feelings, and dreamsBless my rite and protect this space.”

III: House Cleansing

Light the end of the sage smudge. Blow out the flame and blow on the embers. Go to each room of the house, and wave smoke in each of the four directions. Wave the smoke into the corners with the feather.

Say aloud:

“On this day, the (day) of (month), (year)I clear this space of all negativityAnd the energy of people or thingsThat have no purpose in our household.I ask that this clearing be gentleAnd that all of this energy be returned to its source.May all that is not for our best and highest good be released with love and respect.”

Once finished with each room of the house, return to the room you started in. Take the sage smudge and dip it into the shallow bowl of water to douse the embers. Take a sip of water from the glass.

IV: House Lighting

Light a white taper candle, and shine the light into each of the four corners of each room. This will brighten the room.

Speak aloud:

“I fill this room to overflowing with light, love and happiness. May prosperity of spirit, wisdom and energy in all its forms fill this room into every nook and cranny. May only those who come from love and light be able to enter this room.”

Continue to each room of the house.

V: Portal Blessing

Return to the first room.

At each window or door, trace a pentacle of blessed water and say: “May this portal be sealed with this sacred symbol so that only that which comes from love and light may enter.”

Continue to each room of the house

VI: Salt Banishing

Return to the first room. Place a container of salt in a remote location. Continue throughout all rooms in the house, returning once again to the main room.

Say aloud:

“This home is a gentle and supportive environment.I offer gratitude to the universe for making it soPower of North, South, East and West,Go in peace, until next we meet.”

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.Of course the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

"The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"

"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."

"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

"Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.”

Physical space acts like a sponge, absorbing the radiant of all who pass through it. And, more likely than not, the spaces we move through each day have seen many people come and go. We have no way of knowing whether the energy footprints left behind by those who preceded us will invigorate us or drain us. Yet we can control the energy footprint we leave behind for others. In blessing each space we enter, we orchestrate a subtle energy shift that affects not only our own experiences in that space but also the experiences of the individuals who will enter the space after us. While we may never see the effects our blessing has had, we can take comfort in the fact that we have provided grace for those that follow after us.

When you bless a room or an entire building, you leave a powerful message of love and light for all those who will come after you. Your blessings thus have myriad effects on the environments through which you pass. Old, stagnant energy is cleared, creating a vacuum into which fresh and invigorating energy can freely flow. The space is thus rendered harmonious and nourishing, and it becomes a hub from which positive feelings are transmitted. Intent is the key component of the blessings you leave in your physical wake. If your intent involves using your own consciousness as a tool for selflessly spreading grace, your blessings will never go awry. Whether you feel more comfortable performing a solo blessing or prefer to call upon your spirit guides for assistance, visualize each space you enter becoming free of toxins, chaos, and negativity as you speak your blessing. Then imagine the resultant emptiness being replaced by pure, healing white light and loving energy. Even a quic! k mindful thought of love can bless a space.

This type of blessing is cumulative and will grow each time you bestow it. Try blessing every home, business, and office you visit for an entire week and observing the effects of your goodwill. Your affirmative energy footprint will help brighten your day as you contemplate your blessing's future impact on your siblings in humanity and your environment.